Pakistan to abolish National Security Council

Islamabad, Feb 24 (Xinhua) Pakistan’s Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani Tuesday said that his government would abolish the country’s National Security Council (NSC). “The president and I have agreed in principle to abolish the National Security Council and the law minister has been directed to present a bill before the parliament in this regard,” Gilani told reporters here.

Gilani said the Council was constituted by former president Pervez Musharraf despite opposition by major political parties including the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The Council was established under an act of parliament and the parliament would undo this act with simple majority, he said.

The NSC was established by former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf in 2004 to serve as a forum for consultation for the president and the federal government on matters of national security and crisis management in general, according to the News Network International news agency.